The new HIRE Act signed by President Obama this month provides a temporary payroll tax exemption to companies, including staffing firms that hire previously unemployed workers. The law requires employees to sign an affidavit certifying that they had not been employed for more than 40 hours total in the 60-day period immediately prior to beginning employment. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has indicated it will issue a form that employers can provide for employees to sign.
Obama New HIRE Act
Posted in Legislative, New Jersey Job Market, Uncategorized Tagged Act, Hire, Obama, Unemployed Comments closed
New Jersey Staffing Industry Awards
At last year’s Executive Leadership Conference, industry partner and associate member, Two River Benefits was recognized as the first winner of NJSA’s Staffing Industry Award. This award is presented annually to a staffing individual or firm or industry partner that has shown leadership in improving and increasing the value and awareness of the staffing profession in the state of New Jersey, or has provided the industry with outstanding service and dedication toward its growth and prosperity.
Additional criteria for selection includes: a) consistent visibility at NJSA’s activities, b) active participation in promoting both the Alliance and the industry; c) providing a service or product that enhances the growth and prosperity of the staffing industry; or d)developed a program, seminar or educational material that increases the professional development for staffing industry employees.
To nominate your candidate for the Staffing Industry Award, click here for the nomination form and fax to 973-838-7124 by April 15.
Healthcare Reform Bill to be Signed on Tuesday
President Obama will sign the Health Care Reform Reconciliation Bill on Tuesday, March 30. The U.S. House of Representatives voted on March 25 to approve a “reconciliation” bill containing major amendments to the Senate-passed health care reform bill that was signed by President Obama last week. The Senate approved the bill earlier that day but made minor changes that required that it be sent back to the House for a final vote.
Among other things, the reconciliation bill dramatically increases the excise taxes that will be imposed on large employers (those with more than 50 full-time employees) that do not offer a qualified health insurance plan to their employees and dependents-from an annual maximum of $750 to $2,000 per full-time employee if the employer has even one employee who receives a government tax credit.
The employer excise tax does not become effective until Jan. 1, 2014, which gives employers time to assess their options and plan strategies.
Posted in Legislative, New Jersey Job Market, Uncategorized Tagged Healthcare, NJ, Reform, Staffing Comments closed
Hearing on State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund
The Senate Labor Committee will hold a public hearing on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 6, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ. The Committee will hear testimony from the public about the fiscal condition of the State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund and related UI tax issues, the effectiveness of the UI program in mitigating hardships from layoffs, and the scope and future prospects of federal programs for the unemployed, including UI benefit extensions and supplements and health insurance premium assistance. Those individuals presenting written testimony are asked to provide 15 copies on the date of the hearing.
The public may address comments and questions to Gregory L. Williams, Committee Aide, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Cynthia D. Petty, Secretary, at 609-984-0445, fax 609-777-2998, or e-mail: OLSAideSLA@njleg.org. Written and electronic comments, questions and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.
Unemployment Tax Fight in New Jersey Legislature
Senator Fred Madden and Assemblyman Joseph Egan, chairmen of the Senate and Assembly labor committees respectively, said they are committed to seeking a compromise that would protect the state’s jobless from seeing any cut to their current unemployment benefits while also insulating businesses from a scheduled increase in their unemployment insurance taxes.
Madden and Egan said such an agreement is necessary after they received notice from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services that a proposed cut in state benefits would negate a 2009 agreement with the federal government and would lead to an immediate loss of $25-per-week in federal funds to all current and future beneficiaries.
Under a 2009 Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) agreement between the state and the federal Department of Labor, each New Jersey resident collecting unemployment receives a $25-per-week federal benefit. Reducing unemployment benefits for future beneficiaries, however, would also immediately void the agreement, leading to a loss in funds to the currently unemployed.
Governor Christie has called for reducing the maximum unemployment check to $550 a week, from $600 which would mean a $300 million tax increase on businesses instead of the $1 billion hike set by current law. The Democrats’ plan would keep benefits at the current level. However, the state could continue to go further into debt to pay for promised benefits.
NJ businesses’ unemployment tax rates are set by law based on the amount of money in the unemployment fund. After years of raids and the recession’s soaring job losses, the fund is scheduled to move to the highest tax rate allowed at the end of June. That would mean employers would pay an extra $1 billion, or $400 more per employee, on average, in the next fiscal year. Christie’s plan would limit the tax hike to $300 million, or $130 more per employee.
NJSA members are encouraged to contact their state representatives to voice their concerns about increasing the unemployment tax in the face of companies striving to add workers and jobs.
Madden and Egan said such an agreement is necessary after they received notice from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services that a proposed cut in state benefits would negate a 2009 agreement with the federal government and would lead to an immediate loss of $25-per-week in federal funds to all current and future beneficiaries.
Under a 2009 Federal Additional Compensation (FAC) agreement between the state and the federal Department of Labor, each New Jersey resident collecting unemployment receives a $25-per-week federal benefit. Reducing unemployment benefits for future beneficiaries, however, would also immediately void the agreement, leading to a loss in funds to the currently unemployed.
Governor Christie has called for reducing the maximum unemployment check to $550 a week, from $600 which would mean a $300 million tax increase on businesses instead of the $1 billion hike set by current law. The Democrats’ plan would keep benefits at the current level. However, the state could continue to go further into debt to pay for promised benefits.
NJ businesses’ unemployment tax rates are set by law based on the amount of money in the unemployment fund. After years of raids and the recession’s soaring job losses, the fund is scheduled to move to the highest tax rate allowed at the end of June. That would mean employers would pay an extra $1 billion, or $400 more per employee, on average, in the next fiscal year. Christie’s plan would limit the tax hike to $300 million, or $130 more per employee.
NJSA members are encouraged to contact their state representatives to voice their concerns about increasing the unemployment tax in the face of companies striving to add workers and jobs.
Posted in Legislative, New Jersey Job Market, Uncategorized Tagged Benefits, New Jersey, NJ, Unemployment Comments closed
Jobs Bill and New Hire Credit Passed by House
The House of Representatives passed the legislation on March 4.
The jobs bill contains two major provisions. First, it would exempt businesses hiring the unemployed from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December and give them an additional $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year. The Social Security trust fund would be reimbursed for the lost revenue.
Second, it would extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump in $20 billion in time for the spring construction season. The money would make up for lower-than-expected gasoline tax revenues.
Despite doubts among many lawmakers that it will create many jobs, the House passed legislation giving companies that hire the jobless a temporary payroll tax break. The measure passed 217-201 on a mostly party-line vote. The bill also extends federal highway programs through the end of the year.
Posted in Legislative, New Jersey Job Market, Uncategorized Tagged Bill, Credit, Hire, Jobs Comments closed
New Jersey Staffing Leadership Conference
Turn the Beat Around….at NJSA’s Executive Leadership Conference, April 28-29 at The Borgata, Atlantic City.
2010 is set to be a year of growth for the staffing industry, a trend that has preceded virtually every economic comeback in United States history. Now is the time to position your firm to lead the way to increased sales and market opportunity.
Attend the Executive Leadership Conference – your best place for information that will help you understand key business trends, re-engineer your business for maximum growth, and hear what your competitors are doing to position themselves for the recovery. How are you positioning your firm to be a market leader?
Make your reservations today for the Executive Leadership Conference and get into a new groove to better sell your services and identify your value proposition to clients and candidates. Call The Borgata at 866-MYBORGATA for hotel rate of $149, reservation code GJSAE10 by April 9, 2010.
Posted in New Jersey Recruiting Tips, NJ Recruiting Events Tagged Conference, Leadership, New Jersey, NJ, Staffing Comments closed
Proposed NJ Labor Legislation, S. 1301, was introduced last week
This bill is designed to encourage employers who must reduce their employees’ work hours because of economic conditions to avoid layoffs by sharing the remaining work. That is achieved by permitting, under certain circumstances, a full-time employee to receive unemployment benefits when the employee’s weekly work time is reduced by 10% or more. The bill also permits the employee to attend an approved training program while receiving those benefits.
The bill also provides that an employer of at least 10 full-time non-seasonal employees may provide a shared work program if approved by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The program may be approved for one year with annual renewals upon request. The employer is required to sustain existing fringe benefits levels, not to hire additional part-time or full-time employees; or make unreasonable revisions of workloads; to provide information needed to monitor compliance; and to certify that if a labor union represents the employees, it has agreed to the terms of the program.
New Jersey Court Prohibits Business to Business Sexual Harassment
Just recently, on January 6, 2010, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division held that business to business sexual harassment was prohibited under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
In, J.T.’s Tire Service, Inc. v. United Rentals North America, Inc., 2010 WL 26495 (N.J. Super. Jan. 6, 2010), the owner of a tire company (the plaintiffs) had been selling approximately $30,000 a month in tires to a NJ branch office of an equipment rental company (the defendant) since 1998. In 2005, the branch manager of the equipment company allegedly began to periodically sexually harass the tire company owner through 2007. The owner repeatedly rebuffed the branch manager’s sexual advances, which resulted in the branch manager withholding business from the tire company. By November 2007, the branch manager began delaying payments to the tire company and, in December 2007, the branch manager terminated the equipment rental company’s business relationship with the tire company.
The tire company and owner sued the equipment company (for whatever reason, the branch manager does not appear to have been sued individually as well), claiming that, among other things, the equipment company had engaged in unlawful sex discrimination (sexual harassment) in violation of the LAD. Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the defendant had violated Section 10:5-12(l) of the LAD, which makes it unlawful “[f]or any person to refuse to buy from, . . . contract with, . . . or otherwise do business with any other person on the basis of . . . sex. . . .” The lower court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims.
The Appellate Court reversed the lower court and denied the defendant’s motion. According to the Appellate Court, based upon existing New Jersey court decisions (including, for example, cases previously holding that the refusal to do business with independent contractors on the basis of age, sex, or handicap violates this same Section of the LAD), the actual language of Section 10:5-12(l), and the social policies supporting the LAD, it is clear that refusing to do business on the basis of sex is unlawful under the LAD.
In reaching this conclusion, the Appellate Court also noted that such violations are different from those LAD claims brought under Section 10:5-12(a) involving violations related to employment (i.e., the far more common type of LAD claim), and which section would not have covered the plaintiffs’ claims.
As a result of this decision, all staffing firms – and particularly those who classify individuals or third parties as independent contractors – should continue to pay close attention to potential discrimination issues, and especially with the types of co-employment implications that always arise in the staffing context.
Staffing Software Firm Helps New Jersey Staffing Alliance Deliver Social Media Seminars
AST, which has been providing fully integrated staffing software solutions to the staffing industry for 25 years, has teamed up with the New Jersey Staffing Alliance (NJSA) to help put on a series of six seminars on “Web 2.0 and the Staffing Industry.” NJSA, founded in 1960, is an industry trade association of direct hire, contract and temporary staffing firms. NJSA represents members professionally engaged in all areas of personnel services including search, recruitment, placement and temporary help services.
Edison, NJ February 4, 2009 – Last week Everett Reiss, project and account manager for AST, was the main speaker for the first of six seminars that NJSA is presenting at the Sheraton Edison Hotel, in the Raritan Center. Reiss spoke on “Social Media Success Stories in the Staffing Industry” and gave the 70 plus attendees three action points to use in formulating a social media strategy for their staffing firms. To engage the attending staffing executives and professionals, Reiss used a video interview with Tracy Tillapaugh, technical recruiter for Contemporary Personnel Staffing in Liverpool, NY; and a panel consisting of Elaine Balady, Co-Owner of The Assurance Group, Robert Derbabian, Vice President at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, and Steve Isenberg, President and Founder of ASJ Partners. Find highlights of the interview with Tracy Tillapaugh at AST’s Mad Staffing Blog.
NJSA’s next “Web 2.0 and the Staffing Industry” seminar is going to be presented by a Northeast Account Executive, John Hassett, on “How To Use Linkedin for Staffing Firms” on February 23, 2010 from 5:00-7:30pm at the Sheraton Edison Hotel. You can register for this evening forum on the ten easy steps recruiters and sales staff can use to build community on Linkedin on the NJSA website.
NJSA’s remaining four forums, all of which are at the Sheraton Edison Hotel are:
- “How to Use Social Media to Bolster Your Recruiting Efforts” presented by Everett Reiss, project manager for the staffing software firm, AST on March 23, 2010 at 8:00-10:00am.
- “How to Twitter and Source Candidates” presented by Rob Tyson, CPC, President and CEO, Bonifield Associates on April 20, 2010 at 5:00-7:30pm.
- “Building Awareness, Influence, Reputation, and Authority Using Facebook for Staffing and Recruiting Professionals” presented by Tracey Madden, CPC, CTS, President of McIntosh Staffing Resources, LLC on May 18, 2010 at 5:00-7:30pm.
- “Building Profitable Web 2.0 Activities Into Your Daily Work Lives” presented by Everett Reiss, project manager for the staffing software firm, AST on June 22, 2010 at 8:00-10:00am.
For more details on the “Web 2.0 and the Staffing Industry” seminar check out the NJSA’s 2010 Business Issues Expert Resources Forums e-brochure that Patricia Koziol, Executive Director & Recording Secretary of NJSA put together.
About New Jersey Staffing Alliance (NJSA): The New Jersey Staffing Alliance (NJSA) is an industry trade association of direct hire, contract and temporary staffing firms. NJSA represents members professionally engaged in all areas of personnel services including search, recruitment, placement and temporary help services. All levels of employment and vocational disciplines (from warehouse and distribution staff to scientific and medical personnel) are served by specialists among the members. We are an affiliated chapter of the American Staffing Association and the National Association of Personnel Services, the national organizations representing direct hire and temporary staffing firms in all fifty states.
About Applied Systems Technology (AST): Applied Systems Technology provides fully integrated staffing agency software to mid market staffing agencies throughout the United States. Its unique ‘outcomes’ approach to automation starts with helping senior management align the projects around very specific measureable goals relating to the operations of their business. By fusing their business processes to automated tools, the client companies are able to grow their businesses with significantly improved operating ratios. The ability to script business rules around desired outcomes in the staffing software itself provides staffing operators significantly greater control over the business.
Posted in New Jersey Recruiting Tips, NJ Recruiting Events Tagged New Jersey, NJSA, Social Media, Staffing Sofware Comments closed
